Tabernacle
sculptorWorkshop of
Andrea della Robbia
(Florence, 1435 - 1525-1528, Florence)
Date1470s
Place MadeFlorence, Tuscany, Italy, Europe
MediumGlazed and polychromed terracotta with brass
Dimensions76 x 48 cm (29 15/16 x 18 7/8 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS27w68
eMuseum ID725632
EmbARK ObjectID12408
TMS Source ID1533
Last Updated10/18/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryA brass door encloses a small chamber that stored the host (consecrated bread symbolizing the body of Christ) before the ceremony of Mass. Just under the door can be seen palm fronds supporting a white disk, which represents the host.
This sculpture is glazed in a technique adapted from traditional pottery. After an initial firing, the terracotta was coated with a white glaze and fired a second time. Individual colors were then added, each color fired separately at specific temperatures. The result was a glass-like coating that fused to the terracotta. In Florence, Luca della Robbia and his family invented an intense white glaze rich in tin oxide, as seen here. Because glazed terracotta was durable, such works could be installed outdoors or in public spaces.
Another large-scale altarpiece in glazed terracotta, also by the della Robbia family, can be seen in this gallery.
This sculpture is glazed in a technique adapted from traditional pottery. After an initial firing, the terracotta was coated with a white glaze and fired a second time. Individual colors were then added, each color fired separately at specific temperatures. The result was a glass-like coating that fused to the terracotta. In Florence, Luca della Robbia and his family invented an intense white glaze rich in tin oxide, as seen here. Because glazed terracotta was durable, such works could be installed outdoors or in public spaces.
Another large-scale altarpiece in glazed terracotta, also by the della Robbia family, can be seen in this gallery.
BibliographyNotesEmile Molinier. Collection Émile Gavet: catalogue raisonné précédé d’une étude historique et archéologique sur les oeuvres d’art qui composent cette collection (Paris, 1894), p. 189, pl. 46. (as Andrea della Robbia)
Cent Photographies Tirées de la Collection Émile Gavet composée d'Objets d'Art et de Curiosités des XV et XVI Siêcles (Paris, 1894), no. 46, pl. 2. (as Andrea della Robbia, 15th century; visible in the upper-left corner of pl. 2, a photograph of Gavet's bedroom)
Galerie Georges Petit. Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité de la Renaissance Tableaux, Tapisseries Composant la Collection de M. Émile Gavet (1830-1904)... (Paris, 31 May-9 June 1897), p. 57, no. 189. (as Andrea della Robbia, 15th century)
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 22. (as "Angels," by Andrea della Robbia)
Allan Marquand. Della Robbias in America (Princeton, 1912), pp. 90, 99, fig. 40. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia)
Allan Marquand. Andrea della Robbia and his Atelier (Princeton, 1922), pp. 89, 91-92, no. 218, fig. 186.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 231. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia; simplified version of his tabernacle in the Church of SS. Apostoli, Florence)
Clara Strauss. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 2 (8 Sep. 1963), p. 2. (as studio of Andrea della Robbia)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 118, no. 147. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia, late 15th century)
Hilliard Goldfarb. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Companion Guide and History (Boston, 1995), p. 130.
Marietta Cambareri. " Della Robbias in the New World" in Marietta Cambareri et al. Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2016), pp. 104, 118-19, 166, fig. 83.
Nathaniel Silver. "Della Robbia." The Burlington Magazine (November 2016), p.929, no. 77, ill.
Cent Photographies Tirées de la Collection Émile Gavet composée d'Objets d'Art et de Curiosités des XV et XVI Siêcles (Paris, 1894), no. 46, pl. 2. (as Andrea della Robbia, 15th century; visible in the upper-left corner of pl. 2, a photograph of Gavet's bedroom)
Galerie Georges Petit. Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité de la Renaissance Tableaux, Tapisseries Composant la Collection de M. Émile Gavet (1830-1904)... (Paris, 31 May-9 June 1897), p. 57, no. 189. (as Andrea della Robbia, 15th century)
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 22. (as "Angels," by Andrea della Robbia)
Allan Marquand. Della Robbias in America (Princeton, 1912), pp. 90, 99, fig. 40. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia)
Allan Marquand. Andrea della Robbia and his Atelier (Princeton, 1922), pp. 89, 91-92, no. 218, fig. 186.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 231. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia; simplified version of his tabernacle in the Church of SS. Apostoli, Florence)
Clara Strauss. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 2 (8 Sep. 1963), p. 2. (as studio of Andrea della Robbia)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 118, no. 147. (as workshop of Andrea della Robbia, late 15th century)
Hilliard Goldfarb. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Companion Guide and History (Boston, 1995), p. 130.
Marietta Cambareri. " Della Robbias in the New World" in Marietta Cambareri et al. Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2016), pp. 104, 118-19, 166, fig. 83.
Nathaniel Silver. "Della Robbia." The Burlington Magazine (November 2016), p.929, no. 77, ill.
ProvenanceNotesCollection of Émile Gavet (1830–1904) by 1894.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Gavet sale at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris for 3,500 francs on 2 June 1897, lot 189, through Fernand Robert, her regular agent in Paris.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Gavet sale at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris for 3,500 francs on 2 June 1897, lot 189, through Fernand Robert, her regular agent in Paris.
Object/Provenance
